


Companionable Silence

by Calacious



Series: Ho oku i [13]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Cheesy, M/M, Nostalgia, Schmoop, Songfic, Traffic in Hawaii can be a pain in the ass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-22
Updated: 2015-04-22
Packaged: 2018-03-25 05:38:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3798766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calacious/pseuds/Calacious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny muses about his relationship with Steve, and realizes that what they've got, it's real.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Companionable Silence

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of this work of fiction, and I am not making any money whatsoever writing this. 
> 
> A/N: Inspired by The White Stripes, "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground." Also, inspired a trip home from town, and reminding myself that I couldn't get too lost, because I am, after all, on an island. I did eventually figure out how to get home using Beretania Street. Additionally, this was inspired by the memory of my grandparents, which came to me while I was listening to this song.

They've been on the road far longer than should be possible on an island, but, like a lot of other things, Danny's stopped questioning the traffic on O'ahu. Instead, he closes his eyes, lets his head rest against the windowpane, and relaxes. He smiles when Steve reaches over and squeezes his thigh. It's a light touch, gone in a split second after it's been delivered.

"This is nice," Danny says, gesturing between them, sleep pulling at him.

"What?" Steve asks. Danny can picture the confused/worried look on his partner's face, and smiles.

"Just driving," Danny answers with a shrug. "I miss that. On the mainland you can pick a highway, drive for hours, going nowhere. A Sunday drive, my grandparents called it. Didn't matter what day of the week it was. Here, not so much."

Steve's hand is back on Danny's thigh, this time for a few seconds longer. When he tries to pull it away, though, Danny catches it, keeps it on his thigh, rubs his thumb over Steve's knuckles. They're dry, calloused, slightly swollen, and used to violence. Yet, in Danny's hand, beneath his thumb's gentle caress, they're pliant and tender.

A companionable silence settles between them, and Danny dozes, waking minutes, maybe hours later, when the car finally pulls to a stop in front of their home. Steve walks around to help him out of the car.

Leaning heavily on the man he loves, Danny lurches across the driveway. Steve's arm snaking around his waist helps keep him upright.

Danny hasn't felt this secure, or loved in ages, and his heartbeat falters as he recalls his grandparents, and how much he'd admired the love they had for each other. How, in old age, even though they'd grumbled, there was no mistaking their love, or how much they truly cared for each other, each putting the others needs above their own. It had been the first truly reciprocal relationship Danny had ever seen. Their love had superseded everything, including the cancer that had eaten away at his grandfather, stealing him away from his family much too soon.

Dizzy, and feeling like he's been sucker-punched, Danny draws in a sharp breath as the realization that what he's got with Steve is as real as the love that he saw between his grandparents. A love that, from the first time he saw it, and recognized what it was when he was five years old, he'd coveted, declaring in five-year-old wisdom and foresight that, one day, he was going to be in love with someone the way that grandma loved grandpa.

His grandmother had laughed, but she'd had a twinkle in her eyes when she'd proclaimed that, _"One day, Daniel Williams, you will find true love. Promise your old grandmother that you won't let it go when you do find it."_

Solemn, Danny'd nodded and crossed his heart with his index finger as he made his promise, chest puffed out in pride, heart swelling with imagined love.

"Love you," Danny says, turning to kiss Steve, squeezing the man's hand that's tucked around his waist. His lips land on Steve's bicep, because his aim is a little off.

Danny smiles when Steve shivers and presses a kiss to the top of Danny's head.

"Love you, too," Steve says, voice husky, overcome with some kind of emotion that Danny can't see telegraphed on the man's face at the moment.

Danny can picture his grandmother smiling down on them, eyes twinkling, a gnarled hand resting on each of their heads. His throat tightens, and he blinks back tears. Steve pulls him close, wraps his arms around him and just holds him for a moment. Not understanding what's happening, but willing to be there anyway.

_Thank you, grandma,_ Danny mouths, knowing that, somehow, even from beyond the grave, she had something to do with this. With him finding Steve.

"C'mon, Danno, let's get you inside and into bed," Steve murmurs.

Sleepy, Danny nods, lets Steve guide him the rest of the way into their home, up the stairs, and into their bed. He wonders if this is what it was like for his grandparents when they were younger and newly married. As Steve helps him undress, lips lingering at different places along his skin, Danny hopes so.

"Wouldn't trade you for the world, Steve," Danny mumbles, knowing that he sounds loopy, that Steve won't really get it, or understand the motivation behind his words. In a way, it doesn't matter.

Steve gives him an indulgent smile, and makes a sound of agreement, and then he's pulling back the sheets, clambering into bed beside Danny, drawing him close as they fall asleep, limbs entwined, Danny's head pillowed in the crook of Steve's arm.


End file.
